Indian Railways fare hike means passengers will have to shell out more for travelling in Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains from tomorrow as catering charges have been raised in these premier trains by about two to four per cent. The revision in food tariff, which is included in the total fare in premier trains, also comes with a revised menu.

This is the second hike for premier service passengers in the last 10 days as Indian Railways had hiked passenger fares by two per cent for all trains effective from October 7 by linking the fare structure with the fuel adjustment component.

Those who have purchased tickets earlier will have to pay the difference in the fare to TTEs in trains from October 17, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

The second class AC fare from here to Thiruvananthapuram will now cost Rs 4,289 instead of Rs 3,980 while in the Madras Rajdhani, the existing fare of Rs 3,285 for Chennai has been increased to Rs 3,385.

The catering charge in Indian Railways' premier trains has been increased after 14 years, as it was last revised in 1999.

According to the revised fare, a passenger will have to pay Rs 2,510 instead of Rs 2,435 for AC II ticket in Mumbai Rajdhani. In Howrah Rajdhani, the AC II fare has been increased from Rs 2,490 to Rs 2,554.

The tariff has been hiked by Rs 14 only, from here to Bhubaneswar in Bhubaneswar Rajdhani but in the return journey, a passenger will have to pay Rs 87 more than previous fare.

The revision in food tariff also comes with a revised menu like the introduction of fish fry in AC-1 and Executive Class and stuffed paratha, channa kulcha and packaged flavoured milk for breakfast in all classes of premier trains.

The menu also includes stuffed kathi roll for both vegetarian and non-veg passengers.

However, chocolates, toffees and fruit juice have been done away with in the new menu.

The rate of morning and evening tea has been reduced by nearly 30 to 40 per cent, but the rate of breakfast, lunch and dinner has been increased by 50-60 per cent.

A new concept of combo meal is being introduced as alternate meal on Rajdhani and Duronto trains, which are priced at half the cost of the regular lunch or dinner rate.

Railways serves about 3.3 crore meals a year in these trains. The AC-II,